Patient Stories 
The diagnosis came as a shock.
Tyler Kath and his father, Keith Kath, had made donations to cancer causes and Monument Health Foundation in the past. In January of 2025, however, their donations gained a new, profoundly personal purpose when Tyler’s mother and Keith’s wife, Shelia Kath, found out she had invasive ductal carcinoma, an aggressive breast cancer.
Breast cancer is not known to previously exist in Sheila’s family history, yet she was very diligent about yearly mammogram screenings and check ups. She attributes this awareness to saving her life, as it demonstrates how much your health can change in a single year.
“It was important for her to get treatment in Rapid City. Going through chemo was difficult enough, but having to go out of state to do it would have probably made it ten times worse,” said Tyler. “So it was definitely a blessing that she was able to receive treatment at Cancer Care Institute.”
A Rapid City Stevens High School graduate, Tyler, 35, is also a veteran of the Marine Corps, in which he served from 2008-2012. After two deployments to Afghanistan, Tyler worked in the Middle East performing personal security. He then studied Aeronautical Science before returning to Rapid City to work in law enforcement for five years after which he started his own company, T&K Hunting Gear, with Keith.
“Once I committed to the business full time, I started teaching myself how to design gear, how to market, how to sew,” Tyler said. “It progressed into what it is now, having 14-15 people on the payroll and shipping gear all over the United States. We do a lot of military contracts and law enforcement contracts.”
Sheila’s Treatment
On February 12, just a month after her diagnosis, Sheila, 71, started breast cancer treatment at the Cancer Care Institute (CCI) in Rapid City: six chemotherapy treatments every three weeks followed by a single mastectomy.
“I found that I knew little about breast cancer and hormones and what a part it plays for women — a lot of younger women and all the way up to much older than I — being newly diagnosed with all these different types of cancer I never knew existed,” Sheila said.
“It could have happened to me a lot of years ago; the chance of reoccurrence then becomes a lot higher.”
Sheila felt fortunate to have Tyler’s wife, Nachelle Kath — who is an RN, though not in cancer care and not at Monument Health — in her corner. “Nachelle’s got a lot of experience in nursing, so I trust her. She’s my go-to even when she doesn’t have all the answers. Sometimes I just want to talk to somebody. She listens,” Sheila said.
What stuck out most for Sheila about CCI was her relationship with the staff. Her life had changed from rarely seeing a doctor to almost entirely revolving around medical appointments — 64 total in a few short months — yet she found herself buoyed by her visits.
“I think half of it is how they make a patient feel, not just the procedures that they do,” she said. “You get familiar with them, and they remember your face and the last conversation from three weeks ago. They bring tears to my eyes because they just brought joy and laughter to even the darkest days. By the time you left there you felt just uplifted. They’re wonderful.”
“My breast navigator, Beth Draeger, RN, she’s just one of a kind. I couldn’t have been blessed with a better oncologist (Ghassan Al-Shbool, M.D.) He’s got such compassion and is a good communicator; all the things that kind of make your day when you walk out feeling like, ‘I can do this.’ The breast surgeon, (Breast Care Program Director Ashlea Semmens, M.D., FACS) was incredible through the whole thing; just so positive. And she really is a gifted surgeon as well.”
Giving Back
T&K Hunting is truly a family business. Tyler and Keith are the most hands-on. However, Sheila does the books from home and Nachelle helps out when she’s not on nursing duty. As the owner, Tyler is always looking for ways to give back to the Black Hills community.
“I wanted to help my mom mentally and emotionally. But if you don’t have cancer, if you’re not the one that’s going through the treatments, through the surgery, you can’t understand how scary that is,” he said.
“This is as close as it gets to home,” adds Keith. “In the past, we’ve donated to cancer research. But of course, this one, we had more of a purpose to help as much as we can.”
In March of last year, T&K manufactured suppressor covers — one of their most popular items — to include pink webbing in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Customers who weren’t in need of a suppressor cover were also given the option to donate at checkout if they wanted to show their support.
“We got a lot of customers that had been personally impacted or that had lost their moms or family members to breast cancer,” Tyler said. “For me and my dad especially, it was a way to help my mom in a different way, to give back to not just her, but show support for everybody that’s going through that.”
The campaign lasted four months. T&K sold around $8,000 worth of the suppressors and donated the profits to the Foundation in support of CCI. All of that money stays local and goes toward patients in need of care so they can stay right here in the Black Hills.
“It’s important that people trust the physicians and the nurses within this community, and to know that we do have a good health care system that can provide treatment. Health care is huge here, we should be prioritizing providing health care to people within the local community,” Tyler said.
– Tyler Kath, on staying local for Sheila’s care
Ringing the Bell
Sheila will receive targeted therapy until May 2026. However, she wanted to ring the bell at the conclusion of her initial treatments last May, and she invited her care team from CCI to attend. Those who could make it watched and cheered Sheila on. Dr. Semmens hustled across the street from Same Day Surgery to get there in time.
“I look at all the out of state plates — Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming — of people that come this far to get treated. They have to get a hotel room and drive the icy roads. What a stress that must be on top of the stress they’re already experiencing,” Sheila said. “Never one time do I not get in the car and drive across town and feel like we are blessed in this community to have the medical professionals here that can serve so many people.”
Although she cannot officially be said to be in remission until she’s been cancer free for two years, Sheila’s prognosis is good. She does what she can to stay healthy outside of therapy — exercising, watching what she eats. For now, fatigue seems to be the only side effect from her treatments.
“I’m just grateful for today, and when tomorrow comes, and that’s a good day, I’ll go to the next,” she said. “That’s my mindset, and it has been from the beginning. So I don’t think it’s going to change. I’m going to ring the bell in May again. That’s the plan.”
Thanks to the generosity of T&K and many other gracious businesses and individuals just like them, when Sheila does ring that bell, it will be right here in Rapid City, close to home.
– Sheila Kath, on the future